Each story was interesting but connecting it to the Titanic was a cheat.

I was not able to put this book down. It captured me from the start, held me tight until the unevitable ending and left me crying with that odd sense of satisfaction that a really good story can evoke.

These life stories, even if fictional, were moving and interesting. The author isn't trying to influence me with cheap tricks, but rather let's the characters tell their story and the reader decide how to feel about it.

I have nothing but love for this book.

Because I'm a bit of an idiot instead of sleeping saturday Friday night I decided to read a book about the musicians on the titanic, or as the author explains musicians that he made up who bear no relation to the musicians on the titanic, but are on a ship exactly like it based on the exact history of the titanic. (although in the last two pages I learned the a real musicians parents sued for the loss of their only son) Moving on this book is more about the fact that people have a history then that people have a future. It focuses on how people got to the titanic not the fact that they are currently there. What creates a musician? How are they different from other people? There even seems to be an argument of loss and hurt that the book is subtly making. It is also a book about the power of music, which I cannot explain without ruining the ending, although I assume most people already sort of know this.

At moments this book got so boring I caught myself not paying attention, perhaps a bit too many details about a ship I could care less about.

However, the book is certainly interesting and is worth a moment of your time.

Norway.

An interesting way of combining several tales - the stories of some imaginary members of the band of the Titanic. While each was good in its own right, the resonances between them were too slight to make this feel completely coherent. The stories were embedded within the tale of the fatal voyage, but each would stand alone just as well, a bit like the movements of a complex symphony for those of us without a finer appreciation of the development of a theme.

The story that engrossed me most was that of David, driven to despair when his love was no longer requited, yet at the same time that was the most cloyingly sentimental: that of Jason, for example, was far better written.

Overall, this book was wistful and sad, as one would expect, and enjoyable enough in that way, but I had hoped for more.